Acetylene on Titan - Reply

Abstract

We acknowledge the rather explosive properties of pure, solid acetylene, as noted by Matteson. However, we envision the composition of the solid material underlying the ethane-methane ocean to be considerably more complicated than pure acetylene, as we suggest briefly in our report. The dissociation of methane and consequent production of hydrocarbons in the Titan stratosphere from methane must produce not only C_2 and C_3 hydrocarbons but also much heavier long-chain polymers (incorporating nitrogen), at the expense, in part, of acetylene.